Story Title: Apprentice of a Hero
Crossover: Disgaea 3/Phantom Brave/Naruto
Disclaimer: I do not own any story, plots or characters taken from Phantom Brave PS2 game, Disgaea 3 PS3 game and Naruto Anime/ Manga
Chapter 3: Showdown! Two Genius swordsmen of Konoha
Sakura had a lot of time to think things through last night. The realization that she might be the dead weight in Team 7 instead of Naruto had hit her hard. She would be the first to acknowledge that she had a lot of book smarts, but in terms of actual combat skills, she was nowhere the level of Sasuke or Naruto. Which was why she planned to visit the Ninja Library that was opened to all ninjas of Konoha. She planned to borrow a few books on genjutsu. Since she had good chakra control but poor chakra reserves, that might be the only way she could shine in Team 7.
Reaching the training ground, she found Sasuke already there, lost in thoughts as he sat under a tree. If this was any other day, she might have taken this chance to be alone with Sasuke. But after the silent humiliation the previous day, Sakura had her own moping to do as she sat some distance away from Sasuke, staring at the sky. Sounds of voices caught her attention. Sakura looked up as she saw the Third Hokage walking into the training ground with another ninja who looked like a chunin or jonin. He was carrying a katana and had a habit of coughing now and then.
Sakura got up quickly as the Third Hokage and the unknown ninja neared her. Quickly she gave a bow.
"Hokage good morning." Sakura said politely. She looked beside her and saw Sasuke getting up as well, bowing to the Hokage.
"Ah, good morning, Sakura and Sasuke isn't it?" Sarutobi said kindly. "Hayate and I would be watching over your team for the morning. Hmm… Where are Kakashi and Naruto?"
"Kakashi sensei and Naruto's not here yet." Sakura quickly answered. "Is there going to be something special happening today?"
"Well it would most probably have to depend on Hayate's opinions and Naruto's performance…" Sarutobi began but was cut off by a cheerful loud voice.
"Hey old man Hokage! Why are you here?" Naruto called out with a grin as he stepped into the clearing, his distinctive green sword slung across his back. He noticed the other sword carrying ninja beside the Hokage and gave him a measuring look.
"Naruto! Be more polite!" Sakura hissed in mortification at the disrespect Naruto was showing the village leader. She turned and saw that the ninja named Hayate was also observing Naruto keenly.
"Let's wait for Kakashi to arrive before I explain." Sarutobi said with a sigh as he shakes his head. He turned to his side and looked into the thick cover of trees. "Kakashi, please stop hiding and come out now, I still have a lot of paperwork to finish."
There was a swirl of leaves as Kakashi appeared beside the Hokage looking abashed at being caught sneaking around.
"Ah, I was on my way here when…" Kakashi began but was cut off by a wave of the Third Hokage's hand.
"Kakashi, what you do with your time is no business of mine." Sarutobi said as he looked at Hayate and Naruto. "Now Naruto, I heard from Kakashi here that apparently you've been hiding your skills from us for the past few years. You are quite the swordsman if what Kakashi said was to be believed."
A look of panic crossed Naruto's face as he looked as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I ah… that is I…"
"I'll listen to your explanation later." Sarutobi said simply. "As it is, the glowing reports of your swordsman skills from Kakashi were quite unbelievable. But I trust Kakashi's judgment, which was why I've asked Hayate here to correctly judge your level of swordsmanship. Konoha seriously lacked good swordsmen who are ninjas, if your skill level is really that high, then it would be in the interest as the Hokage to nurture you in that area. If you impress Hayate, you'll be granted apprenticeship under him."
"My swordsmanship isn't really that powerful." Naruto said weakly, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Why is Naruto getting special treatment?" Sasuke demanded as he shot Naruto a glare.
"Now, now. Naruto would not be the only one granted apprenticeship. If Hayate agreed to take Naruto in, for every three days of a week, all of you would be learning specialized skills under a jonin." Sarutobi said soothingly. "Sakura would be apprenticed to a special jonin by the name of Ebisu. Sasuke would be specializing in ninjutsu under Kakashi. However, all these would not happen if Naruto did not impress Hayate enough to begin the apprenticeship program."
"What!" Sakura said looking at the Hokage in shock. She had never heard of any teams getting specialized training before.
"It's because you want to be fair to everyone on the team isn't it? If Naruto is under an apprenticeship, then we'll also be assigned to one." Sasuke said quickly coming to that conclusion. "Naruto, you have better not stop me from the path of becoming powerful, you better win that apprenticeship."
Naruto grimaced at the intense look Sasuke sent him. "Don't I have a say in this?"
"No!" Sasuke said at once.
Sakura cupped her face in mortification at the childish behaviour the two of them were showing in front of the Hokage.
"Why not let us start the match now." Sarutobi said, ignoring Sasuke and Naruto. "Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, let's retreat to the corner over there so that Hayate and Naruto have more room to spar."
"You heard the Hokage children." Kakashi said as he pushed Sasuke in front of him. "Let's get a move on."
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Naruto looked at the retreating figures of his team and the Hokage with dread. He had no idea that his desire to show off to Sasuke and Sakura had cause things to be blown out of proportion. He turned to look at Hayate. The man looked quite weak and most probably sickly if the occasional cough he gave was anything to go by. Naruto most certainly did not want to hurt the man by mistake.
"Ah look, can we talk about this?" Naruto said with a plead as Hayate drew his sword.
"I'm afraid this is the Hokage's orders." Hayate said holding the katana in front of him. He held it in a guard position waiting for Naruto to make the first move.
After a few minutes when Naruto was apparently not going to fight, Hayate sighed and held his katana in an attack position.
"On guard!" He called out as he charged at Naruto.
Instinctively, in one quick motion, Naruto drew Wind Fang from his back and block the attack, quickly leaping backwards for more room.
"Look Hayate sensei, I really don't need an apprenticeship." Naruto protested as he proceeds to block all the attacks aimed at him.
"You're hiding your true skill. Is that *cough* the way to show honour to your blade?" Hayate said as his sword strikes became faster and more offensive.
Hayate narrowed his eyes as Naruto's sword moved in a blur, deflecting all the offensive strikes. A smile crossed the pale face of the swordsman.
"I see Kakashi was right in saying you're at least chunin level in your swordsmanship, a beginner would not have managed to block all my strikes so effortlessly." Hayate said with a weak chuckle. "Naruto, I am not sure of your reason why you're hiding your skills, but a true swordsman would not hold back."
"I might hurt you!" Naruto protested, holding his blade defensively in front of him.
Hayate gave Naruto a smile. "I am a special jonin who specialized in the sword, there's no need for you to hold back."
Naruto looked at Hayate in hesitation and then turn to the distance where the Hokage and his team were watching the fight. He had already blown his ability with the sword when Kakashi found him showing off yesterday, if he tried to hide it, it might bring even more questions. Naruto sighed and then squared his shoulders, facing Hayate seriously. Besides Almaz, he had not faced another swordsman. Perhaps now was the time to see if swords skills were actually as high a level as he thought.
"Alright, I will be serious then." Naruto said readying his sword. "I will show you my favourite move. Hurricane Slash!"
Hayate's eyes widened as Naruto vanished from sight. A flash of green to his left caused him to quickly bring his katana up to deflect the blow. Within moments, Hayate was on the defensive as he defended at every direction from the powerful thrusts of the sword, a swirl of dust cloud swirling around him as Naruto ran at high speed around Hayate unleashing his attack, confining him into an area with no chance for Hayate to resume his offensive strikes.
The dust clouds swirling around Hayate slowed and began to settle as Naruto appeared in the distance grinning at Hayate.
"You're pretty good! You actually blocked all my attacks." Naruto said in obvious surprise.
"*cough* Same to you." Hayate said with smile. "Based just on that technique you've displayed just now is *cough* enough for me to agree on the apprenticeship. However, what say we let loose and really fight to our limits since we have that chance?"
Naruto grinned, excitement in his eyes.
"No more holding back for me then if you agree to do the same." Naruto said with a grin.
"Let the real fight begin." Hayate said with a nod.
Naruto swung his sword up above his head in a stance unlike any that Hayate had seen, though he could feel the built up of a vast amount of chakra.
"Let's see how you'll do against my ultimate move, Slayer's Descent!" Naruto called out excitedly.
Hayate watched in surprise as a huge pulse of chakra exploded from Naruto's feet, shooting Naruto up into the air. A dark black and red aura unlike anything he had seen surrounded the small figure of Naruto in the sky. It was as if the dark chakra were wings that carried the boy. Hayate had no time for thoughts as the chakra winged Naruto zoomed down from the air at him. The dark chakra began building up around the distinctive green blade of Naruto who gave it a swing, sending an oppressing wave of chakra at Hayate.
Hayate quickly made several handseals as he used the Body Flicker Technique to escape to a safe location. There was a loud sound of explosion and Hayate quickly swing his katana up to deflect the pieces of debris shooting in all directions. He turned to where he last stood only to find half melted rocks and broken ground. The destruction spread out in a wide radius from his last position.
Turning, he caught sight of Naruto who was leaning weakly on the sword he had stabbed into the ground, his leg shaking.
"*Huff* *Huff*" Naruto panted as he slumped onto the ground. Hayate quickly rushed towards him. In the distance, he saw the Hokage and the rest of Team 7 rapidly making their way towards Naruto's position as well.
"Naruto, are you alright?" Hayate asked, quickly checking the boy's pulse.
"Sorry, I always *huff* have a problem with Slayer's Descent." Naruto said weakly as he leaned on the grass. "Changing my chakra to Dark and Fire elemental chakra always drained me."
"Dark and Fire elemental chakra?" Sarutobi asked in surprise as he stood over Naruto, apparently hearing Naruto's statement as he briskly checked Naruto for any injuries. "I wasn't aware there was a Dark chakra type. I am beginning to seriously doubt the story you told Kakashi. No ordinary swordsman would pass such powerful techniques to any random child and then left said child with such powerful techniques to learn on his own."
Naruto gulped and his face paled as he looked into the Hokage's serious eyes. "I…"
"You can't lie to me Naruto." Sarutobi said sternly looking at Naruto. "I've known you since you're but a child. Naruto, the truth!"
Naruto grimaced but saw the look on Sarutobi's face. He knew that look from the years he had spent with the old man. It meant that the Hokage's not backing down. Naruto gave a sigh, cursing himself silently for being so boastful which landed him into his current predicament.
"Fine, but I can only tell you in private if you swear not to tell anyone else." Naruto said reluctantly.
"That'll do for me." Sarutobi said turning back to face the destruction that Naruto had caused with his last technique. Sasuke and Saukra were standing beside Kakashi looking at the scene with various degrees of shock. Sarutobi gave Kakashi a nod as he continued. "Naruto's suffering from tiredness due to over exertion of his chakra coils. But he still possessed a lot of chakra reserves which will heal his chakra coils in a few minutes. We'll let him rest a bit in the meantime. Sakura, Sasuke, watch over him. Kakashi, Hayate come with me, we have something to discuss."
Sarutobi motioned Kakashi and Hayate to follow him as they walked into the trees where they would not be overheard. Sarutobi gave a sigh as he faced his two ninjas.
"Naruto's hiding something, I'll get the truth out from him later." Sarutobi said with wearily. "But at the moment, what do you think of Naruto's abilities?"
"After witnessing his last sword technique, I'm inclined to push for him to be a special jonin in swords. The only thing holding that back is that technique apparently strained the body to the extent that he need to rest, leaving him open to attacks." Kakashi spoke up. "I've had a hard time believing that he learn that technique on his own, and the strange chakra wings that came out of him just now were unlike anything I've sensed before."
"I've never heard of any sword techniques that uses chakra blasts to such an extent." Hayate said with a shake of his head. "After seeing that last technique I am inclined with Kakashi's statement. An apprenticeship would not work out. If I may propose, I'll like a partnership with Naruto. There's much we could learn from each other, I would not mind teaching him my sword techniques if he would teach me his. I might also be able to help him solve the problem he had with that Slayer's Descent sword technique. Also, since he might not make the mark for special jonin, perhaps the position of special chunin in swords might be appropriate."
"That's my exact thoughts, but I'm afraid the political situation surrounding Naruto is quite treacherous. He'll have to improve yet before I can have confidence to promote him. As it is, after that one devastating attack, he will become a dead weight in the fight." Sarutobi said and paused as if thinking. "Kakashi, take your two other members of the team and train them for the day. Try to distract them and make them promise to keep the techniques they had seen as an A-rank secret. Make sure you impress upon them not to tell anyone about today's event. I'll bring Naruto to the Hokage Tower and question him. Hayate, come to see me after an hour, we'll discuss this partnership deal then."
"Yes Hokage!" Kakashi and Hayate said with a nod.
Sarutobi sighed. "Naruto, what secrets are you keeping?"
OoooO
He's too impulsive. He never thought ahead. Naruto was filled with remorse as he sat in front of the Hokage in his office. He had only been thinking of having a good fight with Hayate that he might have showed too much of his hand.
"Naruto, no one's here now. Tell me what happened and how you gained these skills." Sarutobi said as he eyed Naruto sternly.
Naruto sat in the chair moping in silence. Sarutobi sighed as he tried again.
"Naruto, look at me, what's wrong?" Sarutobi asked as Naruto look up at him.
"I made a promise to someone not to say anything unless absolutely necessary." Naruto said miserably. "I'm supposed to keep everything a secret."
"I promise you, I would not tell anyone unless that secret is dangerous to the village." Sarutobi said in assurance.
"It's not dangerous to the village, but there might be danger if too many people know about it." Naruto hesitated before getting out of the chair, walking around the table until he stood next to Sarutobi. "Give me your hand."
"What for Naruto?" Sarutobi asked as he compiled by giving Naruto his left hand.
Naruto clasped Sarutobi's hand and closed his eyes in concentration. Sarutobi began to feel something, energies of some sort building up around Naruto. It's not chakra, but the purity of it almost felt like… spirit energy. Sarutobi jerked forward in surprise as he stared at Naruto. Since when had Naruto learn to manipulate spirit energies? He had seen taijutsu experts like Gai manipulating physical energies, but the only ones to manipulate spirit energies were the various clans of priests scattered around the countries who kept their secrets as closely guarded as the ninjas.
The problem was, spirit energies were the non-offensive half of chakra, what could Naruto possibility be doing with it? Then Sarutobi felt it, a string of energy from Naruto connecting to Sarutobi's chakra. He looked at Naruto who had opened his eyes.
"We're going old man Hokage." Naruto said as a blast of pure spirit power expelled from him.
Sarutobi had no time to ask Naruto what he meant before everything went crazy in a swirl of colours. The sensation of his whole world view twisting as he reappeared and dropped onto soft grass, on top of a green hill with several others hills in the distance. Trees and rocks were scattered around the landscape which he gave a cursory glance before he turned to Naruto.
"A space time technique." Sarutobi said looking at Naruto grimly. He had been the subject of a few space time techniques in the past when Minato had pleaded for his aid in helping him with his experiments. Had Naruto somehow gained his father's genius in this area? But that did not explain the sword techniques he had displayed. "Naruto what is the meaning of this?"
"Well…" Naruto said scratching his head as Sarutobi push himself off the grass, standing and looking down at Naruto. "It began two days ago… in real world time that is. A powerful man came to me and told me he wanted to train me as his student…"
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